Most Successful Advisers of the Year

For the last five years, PLANADVISER’s sister publication, PLANSPONSOR, has tried to answer that question, both quantitatively and qualitatively, through our Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year award. From the quantitative part of the evaluation, we have compiled a list of “most successful’ retirement plan advisers—advisers whose practices stand out in terms of a series of quantitative measures. Consider that, among the 33 advisers and 60 advisory teams that passed our first threshold of review, the median individual adviser has $250 million in assets under advisement (AUA), while the median AUA for adviser teams in that group is $763 million.

In the pages that follow, we highlight the quantitative standouts from this year’s award entries in terms of dollar value of qualified plan assets under advisement and number of plans. This year, 21 advisers and 46 adviser teams were eligible to be included on these lists. Collectively, the adviser individuals and teams represent $23 billion and $297 billion in assets under advisement, respectively, more AUA than last year with fewer advisers. Among those practices listed as having the most plans under advisement, the individuals serve 643 plans, while the teams have 1,949 plan clients.

There is a reason these firms are successful—and their success stands out on these pages.

Individual Advisers with $500MM or more in Retirement Plan AUA

Adviser Teams with $1B or More in Retirement Plan AUA

Individual Advisers with 50 Plans or More Under Advisement

Adviser Teams with 100 Plans or More Under Advisement

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from Defined Benefit Plans

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from 403(b) Plans

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from Nonqualified Plans

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from 457 Plans

METHODOLOGY

The advisers listed here are taken from complete entries for the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year awards. Nominations were solicited online from retirement plan advisers, their employers and/or broker/dealers, and plan sponsors, as well as from working partners of these advisers, including investment vendors, accountants and attorneys, and pension administrators (advisers who have attained the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation receive an automatic nomination). To enter the awards process, nominees must complete a form providing various details of their practice, including the details displayed here. These lists are based solely on quantitative factors, while the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year awards consider both qualitative and quantitative factors, including factors not considered in determining the most successful lists.

*Due to the differences in evaluation factors, finalists for the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year awards are not necessarily included on the “most successful” listing.

Individual Advisers with $500MM or more in Retirement Plan AUA

>$2.5B

Thomas Clark, Jr.
Lockton Investment Advisors
Washington, D.C.   

Danford Meischen   
Merrill Lynch   
Houston, Texas   

Attila Toth  
Portfolio Evaluations   
Warren, New Jersey   

Brian Ward  
Wells Fargo Advisors   
Brentwood, Tennessee

$1B – $2.49B

Gary Handler, PRP   
UBS Financial Services   
Encino, California

William Talmage  
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney   
Cincinnati, Ohio   

$750M – $999M

Timothy Black   
Mosse & Mosse Associates   
Marlborough, Massachusetts   

Kenneth G. Catanella  
UBS Financial Services Inc.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

L. Rita Fiumara   
UBS Financial Services, Inc.   
Chicago, Illinois

Stace Hilbrant, PRP   
401k Advisors LLC (NRP Member Firm)   
Wilmette, Illinois

$500M – $749M

Charles A. Corpening   
Deutsche Bank   
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Paul D’Aiutolo, PRP  
UBS   
Rochester, New York

Claiborne B. “Chip” Morton, III, PRP 
Corporate Advisors Group-Raymond James
Destin, Florida

Stephen Brown   
Merrill Lynch   
Pittsford, New York

Adviser Teams with $1B or More in Retirement Plan AUA

>$5B

Bostonian Group’s Retirement Services Team   
Bob Clark, Rick Reed, Stephanie Gallegos, Kerrie McKeegan, Lisa Magyar, Kevin Chisholm, Andy Thorpe, Gina Vallee, James Richardson, Brian Bartkus, Paul Roberts, Jeffrey Klein   
Boston, Massachusetts   

Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC   
Mark Wetzel, Mike Goss (PRP), Chris Kachmar, Karen Paulson (PRP), Tony Tranghese, Ryan Gardner (PRP)
Windsor, Connecticut   

Institutional Investment Consulting   
Michael Kozemchak (PRP), Tony Ciocca (PRP), Barry Stoey, Paul Stephens, Greg Cimmino   
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan   

Lockton Financial Advisors/Lockton Investment Advisors   
Dan Nemmers, Bob Croy, Harry James, Tom Clark, David Altimont, Eric Kaufman, Rick Unser, Doug Morris, Troy Redstone, Lucas Barton   
Kansas City, Missouri   

Plan Sponsor Advisors   
Jennifer Flodin (PRP), Don Stone   
Chicago, Illinois   

$2.5B – $5B

Century Financial Group
Los Angeles, California   

The Founders Group   
Anthony Franchimone (PRP), Larry Deatherage (PRP), Dave Utter, Sean Ciemiewicz   
La Jolla, California

Francis Investment Counsel   
Michael Francis, Joseph Topp, Kelli Send, Cliff Dunteman, Ed McIlveen, Tim Shirk, Patty Dirksmeyer, Meredith Ehn, Arthur Harris, Kevin Roloff   
Pewaukee, Wisconsin   

The Gsell Group   
Bruce Gsell, Goran Bojovski   
Edison, New Jersey   

SageView Advisory Group – Northeast Team   
Stephen Popper, Robert Trethewey, Mark Forkey, Jack Evans, Rachel Zachary, Jeff Gratton, Nichole Reidy   
Boston, Massachusetts   

SageView Advisory Group – West Team   
Jon Upham, Mark Kordonsky, Ed Wagner, Robert Patton, Frank Ricchiuti, Matt Hammonds, Kevin Villar, Joe DeVita, Jennifer Purisima, Hector Palacios, David Shnapek   
Irvine, California

$1.5B – $2.49B

Alford Jungers Financial   
Darrell Alford (PRP), Lisa Jungers (PRP), David Morehead, Lourdes Vontsolos, Tom Alford   
San Diego, California   

Capital Strategies Investment Group   
William Woodall, Nancy Rizzuto, Barbara Best (PRP)
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois

Castner Josephs Group
Gary Josephs (PRP), Michael Castner (PRP), LLoyd Engleman, Salvatore Danna
Irvine, California

Lockton Dallas   
David W. Altimont, Lucas M. Barton, Courtney Stroope, Erika Chavez   
Dallas, Texas   

The Prince Group   
Douglas Prince (PRP), Brea Dantin, Deana Harmon   
Indianapolis, Indiana   

$1B – $1.49B

Beirne Group   
John A. Beirne, James A. Betzig, Erik C. Scaranuzzo   
New Haven, Connecticut

CBIZ Financial Solutions, Inc. – Cleveland   
Brian Dean, Mike Swallow, Eric Endress, Kevin Kocsis
Independence, Ohio   

F.D.G. Institutional Consulting Group   
Phil Fiore, Stephen DesRochers (PRP), Jeffrey Farrar, Dean Gaugler, Louis Gloria   
Stamford, Connecticut   

The MHC Group at Graystone Consulting   
Matthew McLaughlin (PRP), Alfred Hammond (PRP), Peter Ciovacco (PRP), Marcelle Belisle, Daniel O’Shea   
Danvers, Massachusetts

Precept RPS   
Linda Bright, Doug Igel   
Irvine, California   

Sheridan Road Financial   
Jim O’Shaughnessy (PRP), Daniel Bryant, Chuck Williams, Jeremy Weith, Chris Karam, Sean Gilmore, Dan Lundquist, Ron Kochman, Jay Warren, Mark Stasik, Lory Merritt, Pete Hass, Peleg Halpern
Northbrook, Illinois

Individual Advisers with 50 Plans or More Under Advisement

Thomas Clark, Jr.
Lockton Investment Advisors
Washington, D.C.

Paul D’Aiutolo, PRP 
UBS   
Rochester, New York

Steven Dimitriou, PRP
Mayflower Advisors, LLC   
Boston, Massachusetts   

Gary Handler, PRP
UBS Financial Services
Encino, California

Barnaby W. Horton
Merrill Lynch
Hartford, Connecticut

Danford Meischen   
Merrill Lynch   
Houston, Texas

Randall E. Riggins, PRP   
First Financial Resources   
Charlotte, North Carolina

William Talmage   
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney   
Cincinnati, Ohio

Brian Ward   
Wells Fargo Advisors   
Brentwood, Tennessee

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from Nonqualified Plans

Cafaro Greenleaf   
Dorann Cafaro (PRP), Jamie Greenleaf   
Little Silver, New Jersey

Cate & Burton Group   
John Cate, Matt Burton, Eric Brunton, Daniel Houchens       
Indianapolis, Indiana

The Howell & Sharp Group at Merrill Lynch  
Brett Howell, Craig Sharp, Steven Jones, Joel Barrett, James Harding   
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Kass/Freeman Group  
Jonathan Kass, Robert Freeman
New York, New York

Kieckhefer Group   
Janet Ganong (PRP), Rob Kieckhefer (PRP), Meghan Madigan
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lockton Financial Advisors/Lockton Investment Advisors   
Dan Nemmers, Bob Croy, Harry James, Tom Clark, David Altimont, Eric Kaufman, Rick Unser, Doug Morris, Troy Redstone, Lucas Barton   
Kansas City, Missouri

Danford Meischen   
Merrill Lynch   
Houston, Texas   

Pensionmark Retirement Group   
Troy Hammond (PRP), Mike Woods, Devyn Duex, Laura Battle (PRP), Daren Alcantar, Jim Rubin, Deanna Bamford   
Santa Barbara, California

Brian Ward   
Wells Fargo Advisors   
Brentwood, Tennessee

Advisers with 10% or More of Their Business from 457 Plans

F.D.G. Institutional Consulting Group   
Phil Fiore, Stephen DesRochers (PRP), Jeffrey Farrar, Dean Gaugler, Louis Gloria   
Stamford, Connecticut

Moreton Retirement Partners/NRP   
Chad J. Larsen (PRP), M. Corey Whitehead, Ginny Redmon
Denver, Colorado